For those who tuned into the Inside Xbox stream live from the X018 event, the reveal of the Void Bastards trailer will have piqued their interest. More details have since emerged about this revolutionary strategy-shooter that’ll test your wits and put your aiming skills to task. So let’s delve into them.
Void Bastards is an upcoming game, developed by Blue Manchu and published by Humble Bundle, which asks you to master its combat, manage the controls of a spaceship, scavenge for supplies, craft makeshift tools and much more. All of this enables you to lead a rag-tag group of prisoners in escaping the Sargasso Nebula, navigating them away from a myriad of dangers and making choices about when to take the fight to the enemies. Make no mistake about it, there will be some odd and terrible enemies to face off against, aided by the use of improvised weapons and tools like the distracting robo-kitty and the rather unstable clusterflak.
Whilst traversing the vast nebula, you’ll need to flee from void whales and pirates in your tiny pod. Boarding derelict ships on your travels will put your planning ability to the test as you take note of the layout, determine what hazards and foes you can expect to encounter, and establish which of the ship’s systems can be used to your advantage. Will you take a detour to the generator to bring the power back online or instead fight your way into the security module to disable the ship’s defences? You must choose wisely when to engage in combat, when to run and when just to be a glorious bastard.
Void Bastards features a 12-15 hour campaign that you can complete with an endless supply of prisoners, each possessing their own unique traits. Don’t worry if one dies, another one steps forward to carry on the fight and any crafting progress you’ve made is retained from one to another. And you can get your chance at being a bastard in early 2019, when it launches on Xbox One (as part of Xbox Game Pass too) and PC.
